California 2017-2018 Regular Session Status: Passed Assembly

AB 2546 — Commercial email advertisements.

Last action — Ordered to inactive file at the request of Assembly Member Chau.

Track this bill free

No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Assembly
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2017-2018 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Assembly” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Summary

Existing law prohibits a person or entity from initiating or advertising in unsolicited commercial email advertisements and places other restrictions related to that activity. Existing law defines the term "commercial email advertisement" for purposes of those provisions to mean an electronic mail message initiated for the purpose of advertising or promoting the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of property, goods, services, or extension of credit. Existing law defines the term "unsolicited commercial email advertisement" for purposes of those provisions to exclude a commercial email advertisement sent to a recipient who has a preexisting or current relationship with the advertiser promoting the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any property, goods, services, or extension of credit. Existing law further defines the term "preexisting or current business relationship" to mean that the recipient has made an inquiry and has provided his or her email address, or has made an application, purchase, or transaction, with or without consideration, regarding products or services offered by the advertiser. This bill would expand the definition of "commercial email advertisement" to include an electronic mail message initiated for the purpose of advertising or promoting the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, promotion, or other disposition of stocks, bonds, sweepstakes, insurance, employment opportunities, or any other solicitation, excluding charitable or political solicitations. The bill would expand the definition of "preexisting or current business relationship" to include situations in which the recipient has made an inquiry and has provided his or her email address or has made an application, purchase, or transaction, with or without consideration, regarding products or services offered by a commonly branded company of the advertiser. Existing law prohibits a person or entity from advertising in a commercial email advertisement sent from California or to a California email address in certain circumstances, including if the email advertisement contains or is accompanied by falsified, misrepresented, or forged header information or by a 3rd-party's domain name without the permission of the 3rd party. Existing law makes a violation of that prohibition a misdemeanor. This bill would also make it unlawful for a person or entity to initiate a commercial email advertisement sent from California or to a California email address in the above-described circumstances. The bill would expand the prohibition on the advertisement containing a 3rd-party's domain name to also apply to the 3rd-party's email address, but the bill would specify that this prohibition does not affect comparative advertising that references names, user names, domain names, or email addresses. This bill would also prohibit the body of the advertisement from containing a falsified or misrepresented postal address of the advertiser or initiator, a falsified or misrepresented business name, as specified, of the advertiser or initiator, or a falsified or misrepresented unsubscribe link, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General, the recipient of an unsolicited commercial email advertisement, and an electronic mail service provider to bring an action against a person or entity that violates those provisions to recover, among other things, liquidated damages and reasonable attorneys fees. Existing law requires the court to reduce liquidated damages, as specified, if the court finds that the defendant established and implemented practices and procedures reasonably designed to effectively prevent unsolicited commercial email advertisements that are in violation of existing law. This bill would also authorize a district attorney, city attorney, or the recipient of an unsolicited commercial email advertisement, as specified, to bring an action under these provisions and would authorize a court to enter an order enjoining violations of those provisions. The bill would add to the findings that the court must make in order to reduce liquidated damages to include, among other things, a finding that the defendant provided its personnel with training regarding practices and procedures designed to effectively prevent the emails prohibited under the bill's provisions. The bill would authorize a prevailing recipient, electronic mail service provider, the Attorney General, district attorney, or city attorney to recover reasonable attorney's fees as costs in addition to other allowable costs. Existing law sets forth findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to unsolicited commercial email advertisements. This bill would revise the findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding regulation of commercial email advertisements and would make other related changes. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Ordered to inactive file at the request of Assembly Member Chau.

  2. In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 25 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.

  3. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 25. Noes 12. Page 5657.).

  4. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  5. Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

  6. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 16).

  7. In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

  8. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  9. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (June 26).

  10. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  11. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 6. Noes 3.) (June 18). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  12. Referred to Coms. on B., P. & E.D. and JUD.

  13. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

  14. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 45. Noes 29. Page 5660.)

  15. Read third time and amended. Ordered to third reading. (Page 5435.)

  16. Assembly Rule 69(b) suspended. (Ayes 51. Noes 25. Page 5434.)

  17. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  18. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 4.) (April 18).

  19. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  20. Read second time and amended.

  21. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 2.) (April 3).

  22. Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.

  23. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.

  24. Referred to Com. on P. & C.P.

  25. From printer. May be heard in committee March 18.

  26. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

  • Chau · Primary

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on · 13 voted No

Sponsors (1)

  • Chau

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 121 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

3rd Reading AB2546 Chau By Allen

Passed 25 Yea · 12 Nay · 3 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 211202
Democratic 4001
Total 251203
% of votes cast 63%30%0%8%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Anderson — Nay
Beall — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Morrell — Nay
Roth — Yea
Chang — Nay
Delgado — Not Voting
Mitchell — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Cannella — Nay
Portantino — Yea
De León — Yea
Allen — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Hernandez — Yea
Hill — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Bates — Nay
Bradford — Yea
Lara — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Monning — Yea
Moorlach — Nay
Nielsen — Nay
Pan — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Vidak — Nay
Wieckowski — Yea
Wilk — Nay
Fuller — Nay
Galgiani — Yea
Beth Gaines — Nay
Bill Berryhill — Not Voting
Mark Stone — Nay
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Not Voting
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended

Passed 5 Yea · 2 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 4200
Democratic 1000
Total 5200
% of votes cast 71%29%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Bates — Nay
Bradford — Yea
Hill — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Nielsen — Nay
Beall — Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Placed on suspense file

Passed 7 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 6000
Democratic 1000
Total 7000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Bates — Yea
Beall — Yea
Hill — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

AB 2546 CHAU Assembly Third Reading

Passed 45 Yea · 29 Nay · 4 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 332004
Democratic 12300
Republican 0600
Total 452904
% of votes cast 58%37%0%5%
How each member voted (78)
Member Party Vote
Acosta — Nay
Baker — Nay
Bigelow — Nay
Bloom — Not Voting
Brough — Not Voting
Holden — Yea
Kamlager-Dove — Yea
Mathis — Nay
Nazarian — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Waldron — Nay
Eggman — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Low — Yea
Chau — Yea
Medina — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Chu — Yea
Thurmond — Yea
Ting — Yea
Weber — Yea
Wood — Yea
Burke — Yea
Gray — Yea
Frazier — Nay
Fong — Nay
Salas — Nay
Harper — Nay
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Kiley — Nay
Levine — Yea
Maienschein — Nay
Rubio — Not Voting
Mayes — Nay
Chiu — Yea
Chávez — Nay
Cooley — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Melendez — Nay
O'Donnell — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Steinorth — Nay
Voepel — Nay
Cooper — Not Voting
Cunningham — Nay
Daly — Nay
Friedman — Yea
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Nay
Mark Stone — Yea
Travis Allen — Nay
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Nay
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Nay
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Nay
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Nay
Choi, Steven S. Republican Nay
Dahle, Megan Republican Nay
Flora, Heath Republican Nay
Gallagher, James Republican Nay
Lackey, Tom Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Do pass.

Passed 11 Yea · 4 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 8302
Democratic 3000
Republican 0100
Total 11402
% of votes cast 65%24%0%12%
How each member voted (17)
Member Party Vote
Bigelow — Nay
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Nay
Chau — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Fong — Nay
McCarty — Yea
Mullin — Not Voting
Nazarian — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Not Voting
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

civil-rights technology
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 2546 do?
Existing law prohibits a person or entity from initiating or advertising in unsolicited commercial email advertisements and places other restrictions related to that activity. Existing law defines the term "commercial email advertisement" for purposes of those provisions to mean an electronic mail message initiated for the purpose of advertising or promoting the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of property, goods, services, or extension of credit. Existing law defines the term "unsolicited commercial email advertisement" for purposes of those provisions to exclude a commercial email advertisement sent to a recipient who has a preexisting or current relationship with the advertiser promoting the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any property, goods, services, or extension of credit. Existing law further defines the term "preexisting or current business relationship" to mean that the recipient has made an inquiry and has provided his or her email address, or has made an application, purchase, or transaction, with or without consideration, regarding products or services offered by the advertiser. This bill would expand the definition of "commercial email advertisement" to include an electronic mail message initiated for the purpose of advertising or promoting the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, promotion, or other disposition of stocks, bonds, sweepstakes, insurance, employment opportunities, or any other solicitation, excluding charitable or political solicitations. The bill would expand the definition of "preexisting or current business relationship" to include situations in which the recipient has made an inquiry and has provided his or her email address or has made an application, purchase, or transaction, with or without consideration, regarding products or services offered by a commonly branded company of the advertiser. Existing law prohibits a person or entity from advertising in a commercial email advertisement sent from California or to a California email address in certain circumstances, including if the email advertisement contains or is accompanied by falsified, misrepresented, or forged header information or by a 3rd-party's domain name without the permission of the 3rd party. Existing law makes a violation of that prohibition a misdemeanor. This bill would also make it unlawful for a person or entity to initiate a commercial email advertisement sent from California or to a California email address in the above-described circumstances. The bill would expand the prohibition on the advertisement containing a 3rd-party's domain name to also apply to the 3rd-party's email address, but the bill would specify that this prohibition does not affect comparative advertising that references names, user names, domain names, or email addresses. This bill would also prohibit the body of the advertisement from containing a falsified or misrepresented postal address of the advertiser or initiator, a falsified or misrepresented business name, as specified, of the advertiser or initiator, or a falsified or misrepresented unsubscribe link, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General, the recipient of an unsolicited commercial email advertisement, and an electronic mail service provider to bring an action against a person or entity that violates those provisions to recover, among other things, liquidated damages and reasonable attorneys fees. Existing law requires the court to reduce liquidated damages, as specified, if the court finds that the defendant established and implemented practices and procedures reasonably designed to effectively prevent unsolicited commercial email advertisements that are in violation of existing law. This bill would also authorize a district attorney, city attorney, or the recipient of an unsolicited commercial email advertisement, as specified, to bring an action under these provisions and would authorize a court to enter an order enjoining violations of those provisions. The bill would add to the findings that the court must make in order to reduce liquidated damages to include, among other things, a finding that the defendant provided its personnel with training regarding practices and procedures designed to effectively prevent the emails prohibited under the bill's provisions. The bill would authorize a prevailing recipient, electronic mail service provider, the Attorney General, district attorney, or city attorney to recover reasonable attorney's fees as costs in addition to other allowable costs. Existing law sets forth findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to unsolicited commercial email advertisements. This bill would revise the findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding regulation of commercial email advertisements and would make other related changes. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Who sponsors AB 2546?
AB 2546 is sponsored by Chau.
What is the current status of AB 2546?
This bill died with 2017-2018 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Assembly” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track AB 2546?
Track AB 2546 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on AB 2546

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of AB 2546

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →